Alchemist to open a cannery

The Alchemist Brewpub is jumping on the canning craze, and appeasing fans who want the Waterbury-made beer outside the restaurant’s walls.

More craft brews are putting their beer in cans. According to cancrafts.com, a website that monitors this stuff, 135 craft breweries using cans.

The Alchemist Cannery will debut with 16-ounce cans of its double India Pale Ale, Heady Topper, on Labor Day weekend.

The new cannery, owned by Jen and John Kimmich of Stowe, is at 35 Crossroad in Waterbury. Sales will kick off Labor Day weekend with a tasting room, self-guided tour and four-packs of the IPA for purchase. The Alchemist plans to distribute Heady Topper in Burlington, Stowe and Montpelier.

Shelburne Vineyard wine wins another award

An already award-winning red wine from Shelburne Vineyard took home honors this month at the 2010 International Cold Climate Wine Competition. The 2010 Marquette won a double gold medal and was named the competition’s best red wine. One of the judges, Bill Ward, wrote in the Minneapolis Star Tribune it was “the most delicious cold-climate red wine I’ve ever tasted.”

He went on to say, “the wine showed stunning depth for that age… with marvelous blueberry and earthy notes.”